Wednesday Apple Rumors: Apple Partners With Quanta on 12-inch iPad

by Christopher Freeburn | September 25, 2013 11:30 am

[1]Here are your Apple rumors[2] and AAPL news items for today:

Bigger: A Chinese website is reporting that Apple (AAPL[3]) has tapped a manufacturing partner to continue work on a larger iPad[4], MacRumors notes. Word that Apple was developing an iPad with a screen larger than its current 9.7-inches first circulated earlier this year. The larger iPad is rumored to feature a screen measuring between 12 and 13 inches, diagonally. The new report says that Apple is developing the larger iPad with Quanta Computer, which builds its MacBook Air computers. Currently, Apple’s iPads are made by Pegatron and Foxconn, but Quanta may be looking to expand its relationship with Apple and diversify its product offerings. Apple is widely expected to unveil two new iPads next month, including a lighter and slimmer fifth-generation iPad with a faster processor, and an iPad Mini with a Retina screen. There was no indication of when a larger iPad might hit store shelves, if ever.

Profit-Taking: Apple’s top lawyer has sold almost $12 million worth of company shares[5], AppleInsider notes. Bruce Sewell, the iPad-maker’s senior vice president and general counsel, sold the shares after 25,000 restricted stock units vested on Saturday. The sales were disclosed in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Regulatory filings indicate that Sewell was awarded the restricted stock units in September 2009, when he joined the company after serving as Intel‘s (INTC[6]) head of legal and corporate affairs for eight years.

Wrist-Want: There is at least one big name eagerly looking forward to an Apple smartwatch[7], the Guardian notes. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak told the newspaper that he would like to see “the entire smartphone, the entire internet on my wrist.” Discussing current smartwatches, like Samsung’s recent announced Galaxy Gear, Wozniak noted that he wants to see a much larger display. He would also like to see a smartwatch that functions independently and doesn’t need another mobile device, like a smartphone. Though he added, “that doesn’t mean it would be bad if it were that way.” Rumors have circulated for about a year that Apple is developing a smartwatch and has assembled a team of 100 engineers and designers to develop the device. While some analysts had predicted that an Apple smartwatch could debut by the end of this year, most reports now suggest that it will not launch until the second half of 2014 at the earliest.

For more about the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors[8] stories.